Looking for specific Skip-Bo rules? | Setup | Playing the Game | Playing Cards | Discarding a Card | Discard Building Pile | Scoring | Winning the Game | Partnership |
Setup
- Remove any blank cards from the deck. They will not be used in the game.
- Shuffle the rest of the cards.
- You will deal out a number of cards to each player depending on the number of players. These cards remain facedown and become each player’s Stock Pile.
- 2-4 players: 30 cards
- 5+ players: 20 cards
- If you want to play a shorter game, you can deal only 10 cards to each player.
- Each player turns over the top card from their Stock Pile and places it on top of the rest of the cards.
- Place the rest of the cards facedown in the middle of the table to form the Draw Pile.
- The youngest player starts the game.
How to Play Skip-Bo
Each of your turns in Skip-Bo consists of a couple of actions.
You will begin each turn drawing cards from the Draw Pile. You will keep drawing cards until you have five cards in your hand.
Playing Cards
After you have drawn cards, you will look to see if you have cards that you can play to the middle of the table. To start the game there will be no Building Piles started in the middle of the table. During the game there can be up to four different Building Piles in the middle of the table. To create a new Building Pile you can play a one or a Skip-Bo card. You can play a Skip-Bo card because it is wild, so you can use it as a one card. You can play a one/Skip-Bo card from your hand, from the top of your Stock Pile, or any of your Discard Piles.
Should you have multiple one/Skip-Bo cards, you can start multiple Building Piles on your turn. Once there are four Building Piles in the middle of the table, you cannot create a new one until one of the old piles are discarded.
Once there are Building Piles in the middle of the table, you have the opportunity to play cards to them. To play a card to a Building Pile it has to be one higher than the top card on the pile. Skip-Bo cards can be played at any time as they are wild. You can play multiple cards to the same pile, and/or to multiple different piles.
There are a couple different places where you can play cards from.
The first place you should look is the top card on your Stock Pile. The ultimate goal of Skip-Bo is to play all of the cards from your Stock Pile. Therefore you should always keep checking if you can play the top card from the pile. When the top card from your Stock Pile is one higher than the top card on any of the Building Piles, you can play it to the pile. You will then turn over the new top card from the pile so you can see it. Should you be able to play this new card, you can play it immediately.
Next you can play cards from your hand. To play a card from your hand it has to be one higher than the top card on one of the Building Piles. You can play as many cards as you can/want on your turn. If you are able to play all five cards from your hand (this does not include discarding a card at the end of your turn), you immediately get to draw five new cards and continue your turn.
Finally you can play cards from your Discard Piles to the Building Piles. Like any other card, to play one of these cards it has to be one higher than the top card on the Building Pile. Once you have played the top card from a Discard Pile, it will reveal the next card from the pile. If you can play this new card, you can play it immediately if you want to.
If you have a card that you can play, you can choose not to play it if you think it will help another player.
Discarding a Card
After you are done playing cards, you will choose one card from your hand to discard. You will discard the card face up to one of your own personal Discard Piles. To begin the game you will have no Discard Piles. As you play the game you will create the Discard Piles by placing cards face up in front of yourself.
When you discard a card you can choose which Discard Pile you want to add it to. If you don’t already have four Discard Piles, you can choose to create a new pile with the card. Otherwise you can place the card on top of one of the Discard Piles you have already created. There are no rules regarding when you can place a card on a Discard Pile. It does not have to one higher or one lower than the previous discarded card.
After you discard a card, your turn ends. Play passes to the next player. The rules do not say whether play passes left or right.
Discard a Building Pile
When a twelve card or a Skip-Bo acting as a twelve is added to a Building Pile, that pile is completed. Take all of the cards from the pile and set them to the side. These cards stay off to the side unless the Draw Pile runes out of cards. If the Draw Pile runs out of cards, all of the cards from completed Building Piles are shuffled again to create a new Draw Pile.
Once a Building Pile has been completed, it can be replaced by a player playing a one card to start a new pile.
Scoring
A round ends when a player plays the last card from their Stock Pile. If you are playing a series of games, the winner counts up the points left in the other players’ Stock Piles. The winner scores five points for each card left. They also score a bonus 25 points.
If you are playing multiple rounds, the cards are shuffled and the players play another round.
Winning the Game
You can choose to either play one hand of Skip-Bo, or a series of hands.
If you are only playing one hand, the first player to play the last card from their Stock Pile wins the game.
If you are playing a series of hands, each player keeps track of the points they score during the game. The first player to score 500 points wins the game.
Partnership Game
If you would like to play with partners, most of the rules of Skip-Bo are the same.
On each of your turns in addition to playing the cards in your own Stock Pile, Hand and Discard Piles; you can also play cards from your partner’s Stock Pile and Discard Piles. Players may not discuss strategy or moves at any time though.
Once a player has played the last card from their Stock Pile, they continue playing. They will try to help their teammate get rid of cards from their Stock Pile.
The first team to play all of the cards from both of their Stock Piles wins the game.
Components
Mattel Versions
- 162 Cards
- 12 cards of each number 1-12
- 18 Skip-Bo cards
- Instructions
International Games Versions
- 168 Cards
- 12 cards of each number 1-12
- 24 Skip-Bo cards
- Instructions
Year: 1967 | Publisher: International Games, Mattel | Designer: Hazel Bowman
Genres: Card, Family
Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 2-6 | Length of Game: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: High
For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.